The Supernatural
Governments the world over have always known of the supernatural, those things that go “bump in the night.” The extent of that knowledge was always variable, but the in the modern day of databases, advanced security and surveillance equipment, and instant communication, the shadow that always hid the specifics of the supernatural is beginning to fade away. The Fae Of all the supernatural, the fae are perhaps the least well-known. What little we know of the fae is grounded in European folklore, but even that provides tenuous information at best. For our purposes, “fae” is a blanket term for creatures and things imbued with the power of Faerie. When used to mean the True Fae (creatures born of faerie blood), the word “Fae” is always capitalized; “fae” without the capital refers to any creatures touched by faerie. True Fae are the immortal, mighty and remorseless inhabitants of our world, but just out of sight. Their power is said to be rooted in the natural world, but instead of manipulating that power like a wizard, it comes to them as an extension of their very being. They seem to have no names for themselves as a “race”, and indeed do not think of themselves as such; each of the Fae is unique, and they refer to other denizens of Faerie by titles and names. The euphemisms used by changelings are many, which helps to prevent them being summoned at the sound of their names. The Fae’s perceptions, motivations and actions are alien to humans. They seem to understand the world through relatives rather than absolutes; many are bound by obscure and bizarre oaths and rules; others act seemingly at random, obeying a logic opaque to all humans. While they may sometimes take the form of human-like beings or animals, they are often incapable of understanding mortals, one of the reasons they find them so fascinating. The Fae are difficult to comprehend. Their true nature is beyond imagination and their might is matchless in the mortal world—but they can’t always do as they please. In exchange for self-identity, they obey powerful obligations. A faerie can never intentionally violate a Contract he swears on his own name. When an Other commits to a namebound Contract, obeying it defines his existence. If he breaks his word, he destroys his Name—and for the Gentry, namelessness is obliteration. Activity In the City Finding the Fae is not hard, though often the end result is not worth the effort. If you know where to look, you can find faerie magic all throughout the natural world. Though they tend to hide from those who only know of them peripherally, agents of the OSI who intentionally seek the Fae out seem to have had some success by offering bribes or playing to the creatures’ vanity. Their attention span, however, is fleeting and they disappear as quickly as they appear. Jack-in-the-Green A wood sprite, this Fae has taken up residence in Golden Gate Park. His powers have been playing havoc on the “man”-scaped area, the paths becoming rather overgrown. The open areas of the park have so far been unaffected, but any place with over or undergrowth is becoming more impassable by the day. Klabautermann A water kobold (or nix) who assists sailors and fishermen on the San Francisco Bay in their duties, KLABAUTERMANN is a merry and diligent creature, with an expert understanding of most watercraft, and an unsurpassable musical talent. He also rescues sailors washed overboard. Despite the positive attributes, there is one omen associated with his presence: no member of a ship blessed by his presence shall ever set eyes on him. He only ever becomes visible to the crew of a doomed ship. Linguee The spirit some in Chinatown venerate known as LINGUEE is suspected to be a Fae by the OSI. Nothing about this spirit has been verified, not even its existence, however too many odd occurrences attributed to the spirit have occurred to be merely coincidence. There is a theory running through the OSI too that LINGUEE may be dabbling in the Financial District. Vampires Vampires are a race of predators who feed on blood. They were once humans transformed by a conscious act of will, known as the Embrace, into powerful creatures of the night. During the Embrace, a vampire drains a candidate of all their blood and replaces it with a small amount (generally a single drop) of their own. This causes the corpse to rise as a new vampire, usually instantly. The vampire who initiates the Embrace is the Sire; the new vampire is the Sire’s Childe. Vampires have every manner of supernatural power, such as turning into animals, flying and wielding the strength of a dozen men. While these powers are not universal, vampires individually have unique abilities which can grant undead capabilities such as these and more. Sunlight burns vampires, however. As part of their curse, vampires recoil at the touch of the sun, its vital rays scorching their undead flesh. Vampires typically spend the daylight hours in the cold sleep of undeath, and only the most resolute can shake off the weight of the day’s forced slumber for even a short time. Activity in the City Due to the actions of a werewolves (see This Town Ain’t Big Enough above), vampire activity in San Francisco is rare indeed. The OSI has only had one confirmed run-in with a vampire in the last ten years. There may indeed be vampires left in San Francisco, but they are keeping a very low profile and keeping wide of the HARBRINGERS. The OSI has only one active lead on possible vampire activity: over the last two years there have been stories circulating through the homeless population near UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital of “the Armored Wind” that protects the hospital. Though the accounts cannot be confirmed, the occasional gang member and homeless resident does disappear from time to time around the hospital. Werewolves Werewolves are shapeshifters who change from human to wolf form—adopting many intermediary forms if they so choose. They are physically more powerful than most living creatures, and are immune to many of the ailments and diseases that plague their human and wolf cousins, but they’re still living beings and they can still die. Werewolves heal much faster than normal humans, and as half-spirit beasts designed for battle, they’re exceptionally hard to kill. Most analysts agree that in all likelihood with a werewolf’s regenerative ability comes the potential for lifespans longer than those of humanity. Activity in the City Though it is rare for werewolves to claim home territory in an area crowded with people, there are a few known packs in an around San Francisco. The Harbingers of Day Territory: Exact boundaries unknown, San Francisco Alpha: Damien Kingsley, owner of the Redwood Room The Rest: * Maeve Oakdale, partner of Oakdale & Michaelson Law Firm * Holden Foster, owner of the San Francisco Giants * Dashiell Michaelson, partner of Oakdale & Michaelson Law Firm * Clara Raphael, Entrepreneur and Real Estate Most werewolf packs are difficult to pin down, as elusive as they are ferocious. The HARBINGERS, however, are relatively well-known, comfortable with being seen in their human skins publicly. The OSI has even had a few person-to-person meetings with these creatures. It is as if these werewolves think themselves untouchable. Of course, with their role in ridding the city of vampires, perhaps they are… Wolf Ridge Pack Territory: Golden Gate National Recreation Area Alpha: Cheveyo The Rest: * Catahecassa * Kaneonuskatew * Liluye * Nanuq * Quidel * Talutah * Wayra The Wolf Ridge Pack (name given by the OSI) acts more in line with traditional data on werewolf behavior. They are antisocial, mean-spirited, and reclusive. Very little is known about them—most of the information we have has been gleaned from over fifty years of hearsay and local legends. They are a large pack made up of Native Americans who seem to eschew technology. The Alameda Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) field office tracked a shipment of heavy military arms into Hunters Point back to a beachhead on Bonita Cove, the southern border of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The NCIS office wound up at a dead end, however the OSI suspects the Wolf Ridge Pack of dealing in arms, selling them though they themselves won’t touch the materiel. Wizards According to what little lore the OSI has uncovered, wizards are humans who have endured a process referred to as the Awakening. Each Awakening is unique, and what triggers it is yet unexplored. Wizards are usually drawn to magic through their own obsessions and ego. Magic is the unnatural power to impose one’s will onto reality and is divided into ten schools of thought: Death, Fate, Forces, Life, Matter, Mind, Prime, Space, Spirit, and Time. Because a wizard’s power causes reality itself to warp and deform, the wizard can only use his magic sparingly for fear of reality itself snapping back on him and punishing him for his hubris. Activity in the City The OSI to date has not found a single wizard in San Francisco. There are many soothsayers and palm-readers, charlatans, illusionists and the like, however there are no documented cases of wizard activity in the city. Still, with wizards being essentially human and their use of magic subtle, it is not outside the realm of possibility that a very large cabal of wizards are operating in the Bay Area. We require more data.